Someone that I know used to have a car that sounded like the muffler needed to be fixed. When the person would be driving up to church, I could hear them before they ever arrived because of the loud sound of their vehicle. Simply by the sound, I knew who was pulling up to church.
In thinking about this, I wonder whether people recognize us—who we are and Whose we are as baptized believers in Jesus Christ—by how we sound and what we do. Do they see us as sheep who listen to and follow the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, according to His word? Do they see us live the love that He has first shown to us? Do they see us serving others in love as Jesus did? Do they see or hear us confess to each other, say that we’re sorry, and forgive one another from the heart as God has first forgiven us in Christ?
Sadly, people don’t always see us doing these things that go along with faith in Jesus. He said, “If anyone would come after me let him deny himself and take up His cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24, ESV) Sometimes, they see us do and hear us say things that may cause them to conclude that we are not just in the world but of the world—living according to its ways and by its standards. (John 17:14-19) Doing so compromises our witness to our living Savior and also puts our faith at risk. Lord, have mercy upon us for the times when we have done so!
To fix a car with a loud muffler, we take it to a mechanic who can fix it for us. But what can we do when we’ve been giving off sounds and actions that have followed the sinful ways of the devil, the world, and our own sinful nature? The Holy Spirit inspired the apostle, John, to tell us about God’s “fix” for sinners like us. 1 John 1:8-9, ESV: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
God’s “fix” is for us to confess our sins to Him and He will forgive us and cleanse us from all of the sinful things that we’ve done, thought, and said that have hurt others and that have not helped to keep His name holy. With Isaiah we admit, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6, ESV)
That “him” spoken of by Isaiah is Jesus Christ who was “wounded for our transgressions”. (Isaiah 53:5, ESV) As the sinless Son of God, Jesus took the punishment we deserve from God for all of the loud, obnoxious noises that we’ve made and actions that we’ve done that have hurt others and caused them to question Who we follow.
Because of His death on the cross and His glorious resurrection, Jesus has made possible renewing, cleansing forgiveness that comes to us as a free gift from our ever-faithful and gracious God. That forgiveness restores us to a status that we do not deserve and that we cannot earn. Isaiah 1:18, ESV: “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”
What is the effect that our living Lord desires from us with His forgiveness received through faith alone in Him as Savior? He wants us to grow in trust in Him and His gracious work for us at the cross and empty tomb and in living according to His word in such a way that people will recognize us for who we are and Whose we are. Jesus doesn’t want this to be just an outward show but rather genuinely connected with our God-given faith in Him, so that people see by our words and actions (not just at church) that we follow Him.
Based on His word, we follow Jesus the Christ knowing and believing that He is the promised Savior, true God and true man, Who has died and risen from the dead in order to save us. The Holy Spirit enables us to believe that and to grow in living our confession of faith by being gracious with and forgiving of each other and in loving and serving each other.
That is the life that Martin Luther talks about in his explanation in the Small Catechism to the question, “What does such baptizing with water indicate?” He said, “It indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.”
While that is for each and every day of the year, that is a specific focus of the Lenten season that will begin with Ash Wednesday on February 10th. This penitential season is about admitting to the Lord who we are as sinners and growing in trust in Jesus Christ as the One who has dealt with our sins in the way that we need. (John 1:29, John 14:6)
I pray that during this upcoming Lenten season, the Holy Spirit will enable you and me to grow in making those sounds, doing those actions, and thinking those thoughts that are consistent with following our Good Shepherd according to His word, so that people will know Whose we are as we witness to Him Who laid down His life for us and Who has taken it up again for us—Jesus! Amen!
God’s continued blessings to you!
In Christ, our Savior,
Pastor Rathjen
John 1:29, ESV: “The next day he (John the Baptist) saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’”
Download Full Copy: Labors of Love: February 2016 - March 2016
